Households have 10 connected devices now, will rise to 50 by 2020

Intel, the PC godzilla, is morphing into a more integrated player. The $55-billion chipmaker had its newer growth engines firing up its revenues last year.Shilpa Phadnis | TNN | August 19, 2016, 09:20 IST

TAIPEI: Intel, the PC godzilla, is morphing into a more integrated player. The $55-billion chipmaker had its newer growth engines firing up its revenues last year.

Data centres, internet-of-things and memory businesses contributed 40% of its revenue. At Taipei's mega tech showcase Computex, Intel elaborated on its strategy for a connected world. TAIPEI: Intel, the PC godzilla, is morphing into a more integrated player. The $55-billion chipmaker had its newer growth engines firing up its revenues last year.

Data centres, internet-of-things and memory businesses contributed 40% of its revenue. At Taipei's mega tech showcase Computex, Intel elaborated on its strategy for a connected world.

“We are headed to a world where there will be 50 billion connected devices by 2020. There will be new devices and services that we have not yet imagined and many companies in this period of time will adapt or fail.

I believe we are at the beginning of a new cycle of growth – a virtuous cycle between devices and the data centre,” said Navin Shenoy, corporate VP and general manager for the client computing group (CCG) at Intel.

Personal devices will create more data that will drive demand for more data centre infrastructure to beget more services. “The question we ask at Intel is, how do we accelerate this virtuous cycle. One fundamental way is to make devices smarter and more connected. If you look at smart and connected devices, there are three areas of focus for us: internet-of-things, PC innovation and the upcoming transition to 5G,” he said.

Intel is not giving up on PCs. It has launched Thunderbolt 3, a single cable that supports any dock or device with fast data and video bandwidth. Some 100 million computers from HP, Asus, Dell and other OEMs have Thunderbolt ports. “The PC is at the heart of Intel’s smart connect strategy.

With 1.9 billion PCs used around the world, it’s the top choice on people’s tech list. The PC is the ultimate Darwinian device – it adapts, evolves and constantly pushes forward on innovation,” Shenoy said.

Talking about IoT, Shenoy said the average household has ten connected devices. This will explode to 50 by 2020, he said. Intel believes the demand for home gateways, a device which is the hub that brings broadband into the home and drives Wi-Fi connections throughout the home, will increase with the rise in the number of connected devices.

“Gateways can integrate capabilities like storage to store photos and videos. We believe over 1 billion gateways will be sold in the next three years,” Shenoy said.

Peter Bendor -Samuel, CEO of US-based Everest Research, said Intel's efforts towards becoming an integrated player is more nuanced, with much smaller components of the value chain that require different channel partners and more active management on Intel’s part.

“Furthermore, it’s unclear if the new integrated model will support the margins that the chip business does. Finally, Intel’s IOT focus is betting on a nascent market which has yet to develop enough structure to know where and how to invest and is not yet of a scale to provide significant returns,” he said.

“We are headed to a world where there will be 50 billion connected devices by 2020. There will be new devices and services that we have not yet imagined and many companies in this period of time will adapt or fail.

I believe we are at the beginning of a new cycle of growth – a virtuous cycle between devices and the data centre,” said Navin Shenoy, corporate VP and general manager for the client computing group (CCG) at Intel.

Personal devices will create more data that will drive demand for more data centre infrastructure to beget more services. “The question we ask at Intel is, how do we accelerate this virtuous cycle. One fundamental way is to make devices smarter and more connected. If you look at smart and connected devices, there are three areas of focus for us: internet-of-things, PC innovation and the upcoming transition to 5G,” he said.

Intel is not giving up on PCs. It has launched Thunderbolt 3, a single cable that supports any dock or device with fast data and video bandwidth. Some 100 million computers from HP, Asus, Dell and other OEMs have Thunderbolt ports. “The PC is at the heart of Intel’s smart connect strategy.

With 1.9 billion PCs used around the world, it’s the top choice on people’s tech list. The PC is the ultimate Darwinian device – it adapts, evolves and constantly pushes forward on innovation,” Shenoy said.

Talking about IoT, Shenoy said the average household has ten connected devices. This will explode to 50 by 2020, he said. Intel believes the demand for home gateways, a device which is the hub that brings broadband into the home and drives Wi-Fi connections throughout the home, will increase with the rise in the number of connected devices.

“Gateways can integrate capabilities like storage to store photos and videos. We believe over 1 billion gateways will be sold in the next three years,” Shenoy said.

Peter Bendor -Samuel, CEO of US-based Everest Research, said Intel's efforts towards becoming an integrated player is more nuanced, with much smaller components of the value chain that require different channel partners and more active management on Intel’s part.

“Furthermore, it’s unclear if the new integrated model will support the margins that the chip business does. Finally, Intel’s IOT focus is betting on a nascent market which has yet to develop enough structure to know where and how to invest and is not yet of a scale to provide significant returns,” he said.